Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant is an unprecedented photographic exploration of the holiest cities of Islam and the Hajj, or annual pilgrimage during Ramadan when more than a million faithful journey to Mecca's Great Mosque to commemorate the first revelation of the Qur'an (Koran).This book allows both Muslims and those unfamiliar with the Islamic faith complete access to the holiest sites of one of the world's major religions, practiced by a quarter of the world's population but often misunderstood in the West.Photographer Ali Kazuyoshi Namachi, a Muslim convert from Japan, garnered the full support of Saudi Arabian authorities—rarely given—to shoot in cities where photography is strictly controlled, and non-Muslims are not allowed.An expansive work of photojournalism, Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant includes:140 full-color, never-before-seen photographsMystical places and scenes of IslamBreathtaking aerial photographs of the Arabian terrainVistas of teeming crowds of worshippers surrounding the Kasbah, Mecca's sacred centerIntense portraits of faithful Muslims in prayerMagnificent architecture reflecting the faith of the believersArchival illustrationsText by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the most highly regarded scholars of Islam, enhances the stunning Islamic holy city photographs to illuminate many aspects of Islamic belief that have remained enigmatic to non-Muslims—until now.